Whole Lot Of Hot Air

October 2, 1995

A recent letter that was published regarding the electronic media hype and the inability of the National Hurricane Center to forecast landfall of Erin was dead on.

I don't believe that the general public is aware that the Air Force maintains a Severe Weather Center near Denver, Colo. Data from the hurricane hunter aircraft is first transmitted there and then the center sends it to the Miami Center.

On the afternoon of Aug. 1 when the Miami Hurricane Center was ordering evacuation of Dade and Broward barrier islands, the Severe Weather Center was forecasting landfall at Vero Beach. I wonder why we need and maintain the National Hurricane Center in Miami when the military has the ability to accurately forecast the paths of hurricanes?

KENNETH W. SCOTT

Fort Lauderdale

Who's accountable for Lottery money?

What is going on with the Lottery? Someone is not doing their job. The money being brought in with the sales is tremendous. With the record sales, there should not be any talk of raising taxes to help the schools. What happened to the $6 billion that the Lottery pulled in over 7 1/2 years ago? That is what I call a lot of money.

With all this they say that the profits are even going higher. I would say let us have someone accountable for these big dollars and keep things in perspective.

LAURA TAYLOR COOKE

Deerfield Beach

One-payer health care system can work

There is reason to be apprehensive about giving HMOs full responsibility for health care. They are for-profit businesses. Newspapers report a Florida legislator receiving half a million dollars from an HMO. We may well ask why. Many people are uneasy about our for-profit health care system.

Our government is, and has been, very much in the health care business with Medicare, Medicaid, veteran's hospitals and HMOs. HMOs receive more than $5,000 a year from the U.S. government for each person on Social Security who transfers from Medicare to an HMO.

Every industrial nation except South Africa and the U.S. has a national health care system: If it works for them, it will work for us.

The U.S. can do for its citizens what the rest of the world has long since done for theirs.

ANNE R. FORD

Delray Beach

Demand for bilingual services requires limits

The Sun-Sentinel lead editorial of Sept. 6, particularly its headline, was a gross distortion of the case for English as the de jure official language of the United States, and of the virtues of bilingual public services. It is the intemperate demand for more and more costly bilingual services that requires the establishment of legal limits to the insatiable appetite of those unwilling to use the language of the country.

If a viable democracy depends on an informed electorate, why should we support the participation of those unable or unwilling to use the language by which information is disseminated in this country? A balanced approach to English as the official language should not be compromised by extremists on both sides of the issue.

Unfortunately, the Sun-Sentinel editorialist chose to emphasis the emotional extremes, parroting the activists of the Latino community. Let's face it squarely. This is not a multilingual controversy, it is a Spanish/English controversy.

LEONARD STOLOFF

Delray Beach

Racism cuts both ways

Minorities are constantly harping that the media uses a double standard in covering racial bias. It sure does. On Sept. 6, Golden State basketball player Latrell Sprewell was arrested in California on traffic violations. He allegedly made racial slurs to the arresting officer. This was reported by the Associated Press in a 3 inch story. If that had been a white basketball player making racial slurs to a black police officer, it would have made headlines in every paper and been reported on every TV station. Does the media think there are no black racists?

HERBERT FRANKLIN

Delray Beach

Newspaper vendor helpful

Thanks to one of your street vendors who kindly pushed my stalled automobile from busy Sample Road over into a gas station, I was able to avoid a possible accident and also the backing up of traffic. When my car stalled at the corner of Sample Road and Third Avenue, the people in the cars around me were honking, yelling and generally being angry with me (although I assure you I did not break down on purpose). The only kind soul that offered to help me was your vendor - he was a true gentleman.

HELEN MORGAN

Pompano Beach

Solving drug, crime problem is just this simple

Crime is one of our country's most critical problems. Most crime is drug-related. Countless billions of dollars are spent to combat drug dealers and smugglers; vast sums are spent to track down drug farms in South American countries. All to no avail.

But we can make our country drug-free in two years with an excellent chance to make the world drug-free in two to five years.